Do people here seriously not understand the concepts of bigotry & collective punishment?

Does this also mean that Democrats need to stop labeling an entire set of people who happen to be white , (may or may not be) Republican , happen to
be Christian and live in the South as redneck , homophobic , bigoted , racists ?

I mean , and do not take me wrong I do agree with your OP , but I see it all the time either on here , elsewhere on the web , on TV , in print . I am
from KY (place Southern/red state here) and I am white , I am a "bigoted gay hating no good racist redneck" !!! The sins of few white racists does
not make us all racists does it ? And most definitely , the sins of white people in the past does not make us racists in the present correct ?

I agree that holding people individually responsible for their actions and not indicting their families or groups for the actions of one or several
members is very important to a free society. It is actually a relatively new concept in human history and the U.S. is more adamant about putting it
into practice than probably any other nation. However, when problems (violent crime, corruption, drug use, etc.) become out of control and systemic
within a group, do the other members of that group bear no responsibility for putting pressure on the group as a whole to ferret out the problem
actors and fix the situation, especially since they have the most to lose? And is it unreasonable for the other outside groups that are negatively
affected by these problems to ask the leaders of said group to act, and offer assistance where needed?

This also extends to associating all police with police brutality, or all Conservatives with crap FoxNews says, or all Progressives with the crap
MSNBC says. The list can go on and on, but there are way too many out there who only see the extremes of all topics and are far too ready to lump half
of humanity into one of the two extremes.

I think people quit living in reality when the pet rock made a million dollars.

ETA: Also, we can't overlook the fact that a blanket of apathy has comforted many people in modern society, and these people are all to willing to
allow themselves to fall into these divisive and extreme catagories because they're unwilling to do the hard work to research and think for
themselves.

This is a double-edged sword--the apathetics, and those who exploit them to create even more division.

Righto. Just because people have been attacked and killed by SOME grizzly bears is no reason to be afraid of ALL grizzly bears. And everyone knows
only the OCCASIONAL rattlesnake is poisonous. Extreme examples of stereotyping, but do we HAVE to pretend that NO stereotypes are true? Are we allowed
NO precautions or to learn NO lessons from prior experience with people?

Of course it includes EVERYONE. the OP said, "Blaming an entire group for the actions of a few is a sign of bigotry & ignorance." She/he didn't give
examples of EVERY group. That would take all day. But the above sentence covers them ALL. So, the idea includes, but is not limited to,
Christians, Republicans, gay people, women, cops, college professors, Muslims, white men, the younger generation, Jews, the elderly, atheists, truck
drivers, housewives, the transgendered, liberals, Hollywood elite, and ALL other "groups" of people.

Urantia1111, we ARE talking about people, not grizzly bears. Of course, there are stereotypes and they're there because they're true to an
extent. The problem comes when we USE that stereotype as a means of judging someone, instead of finding out the truth about the individual. Here's a
good example.

Stereotyping is necessary to a certain degree. As said before, it helps us remember terms for quick recall. However, stereotypes can become dangerous
when they are inflexible and relied solely upon for information processing. When this happens, stereotypes lead to prejudice, discrimination, and
social-isms.
...
In other words, people often take their own mental picture of a type of person, and generalize it to all people in that group, without taking into
account individuality or even the errors that may exist in the original mental picture. For example, a person doing the hiring for a company may have
the stereotype that elderly people are feeble, absentminded, and unable to keep up in the workplace. Upon receiving an application from a formerly
retired person, it is dismissed, because she is relying solely on her negative stereotype of elderly people. In this case, the stereotype is that
elderly people are less qualified, the prejudice is against all elderly people in general, the discrimination is failure to hire the person, based on
their age, and this is called ageism.

originally posted by: enlightenedservant
And why not? Because it's common sense that people are only accountable for their own actions. Blaming an entire group for the actions
of a few is a sign of bigotry & ignorance. It's just plain stupid! Yet there are people on ATS who keep openly blaming all Muslims and all
“black” people for the crimes of individuals.

Our entire system of laws is built on the concept of personal responsibility.

I agree with everything you've said here, but I have to add that this is a two way street. There is a form of racism, especially seen in America,
which attempts to excuse bad behavior by drawing race and social status into the argument. Blaming others for your own actions is a sign of
ignorance and a sign of helpless immaturity.

And, just to stir the pot, I'll add that the American welfare system is one of the major contributors to the destruction of personal responsibility
in America. In a perfect world, every individual would be exactly that, an individual, fully responsible for their own actions and fully in control
of whether they live, die, eat, starve, succeed, or fail. It seems just wrong to only use personal responsibility when it is convenient to a cause
and abdicate it the moment it becomes uncomfortable.

Why did I just KNOW that someone was going to bring up "welfare". SIGH.

IF YOU HAD FIRST SAID THAT INDIVIDUALS SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO GET AWAY WITH STEALING LIKE CORPORATIONS DO, I WOULD HAVE HAD MORE RESPECT FOR YOU AND
WOULD NOT BE SO MAD I'M SHOUTING NOW.

but it's still all about proving your side more than about acknowledging injustice, even on a thread calling an attitude like yours out, you still
have to flaunt it, and I have no qualms about calling it like I see it either, since this is the rant thread. I am not insulting you, but I am saying
I am mad and calling you a hypocrite. That's not an insult really, it's an acknowledgement of what your statement really is.

It was a rhetorical question . I already knew the answer , was just pointing out the hypocrisy of Democrats who love to point out the racism ,
bigotry and hate of others while hating on an entire group of people themselves .

Just once, just one single time I would love to see a single statement against bigotry and judgement and stereotype be able to stand alone on its own
merit without someone resorting to the tired old.."'but what about.."

it's just wrong, mmmkay? I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't even be posting this, since I have nothing further to add.

do you agree that both parties are misbehaving? and that both parties fund corporations ? but only one of those parties blames race for the whole
thing? whereas the other party, instead of blaming race, blames it on the other party. it's like a perfectly made catch 22 - damned if you do,
damned if you don't.

Mods - give this enlightened servant an applause.......nay give multiple, what a bloody awesome post. You get my special thumbs-up
gif...

Personal accountability is paramount and fundamental - most folks get it........it's all about treating others with dignity and respect.

I am however a self confessed bigot towards Nazi's, politicians, THUG leos, banksters and military-industrial complex members that desires collective
punishment to rain down upon them all - my bad, I know.........but I am a mere man and cannot help myself in this regard - it's like a natural
instinct.

edit on 29-4-2015 by Sublimecraft because: added more to my bigotted list

This is why there will always be racism & hatred in this world. Because there will always be some knuckleheads ready to blame & attack entire
ethnic groups & religions because of the supposed transgressions of a few.

That last statement sums it up and I think is a real tragedy... In light of recent events I would have to disagree. In fact I would say its the
knucklehead that believes this last statement or the premise of the OP that has the real problem.

Transgressions of the few but the majority refuses to stop it? Its either the majority that condones recent evens like Baltimore or it was the
majority perpetrating the madness. Where was the majority if that wasn't it in the streets?

We saw the majority in Baltimore & Ferguson but the OP refuses to see it.

This OP is more of the coddle the animals and blame the civilized. Nothing new, just regurgitated liberal speak.

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